Articles

On July 12, 2010, the Knesset’s Constitution, Law, and Justice Committee approved a controversial draft bill on conversion reform. Presented as an effort to make conversion more accessible to hundreds of thousands of Israeli citizens who are not Jewish according to state and religious law, the proposed legislation sparked an outcry both in Israel and the Diaspora. In this article, IDI Researcher Netanel Fisher exposes the dangerous linkage between conversion and the status of Judaism's non-Orthodox movements and assesses the likelihood of the bill achieving its goals.

In an op-ed published in Haaretz on June 23, 2010, IDI Vice President Prof. Mordechai Kremnitzer reaffirms the need for a constitution for Israel, responds to criticism of IDI's draft constitution, and challenges others to come up with their own constitution proposals.

Biometric legislation in its current form poses a formidable global challenge to champions of democracy, privacy, and individual choice. What is the Israeli Biometric Database Law and how does it deviate from the norms that govern individual/government relations in democracies? How and why has a law that deviates from Western democratic norms been enacted in Israel? Is there something about Israel’s political structure that favors the creation of such a law? Attorneys Nitzan Lebovic and Avner Pinchuk survey Israel's proposed biometric legislation.

In this article, which was published in Haaretz on June 16, 2010, IDI Senior Researcher Yair Sheleg looks at the battle over ethnic segregation in the religious girls' school in Immanuel and asserts that Jewish religious law is not racist; rather, the social norms that characterize the ultra-Orthodox worldview are at the heart of the conflict.

In an article prepared for the second meeting of IDI’s International Advisory Council, IDI Senior Fellow Prof. Tamar Hermann introduces the concept of  anti-politics, discusses anti-politics in Israel, proposes possible origins of anti-politics in Israel, and points to the detrimental ramifications of this type of political sentiment in Israel.

A critique of Tony Judt's proposal to convert Israel into a bi-national state by Prof. Ran Halévi, a participant in IDI's International Workshop on Binationalism (May 26-28, 2010).

In this article, IDI Vice President Prof. Yedidia Z. Stern explains the current conversion crisis in Israel, reviews the evolution of attitudes towards conversion in halakhic literature over the ages, and concludes with a proposal that is compatible with Jewish law while responding to pressing contemporary needs.

On May 26-28, 2010, IDI hosted an International Workshop on Binationalism, which reviewed the experience of binational states in their historical context, explored theoretical models of bi-nationalism or multi-nationalism, and discussed the possibilities of implementing such models in today's Middle East. In preparation for this workshop, Prof. Ran Halévi of the Centre national de la recherche scientifique, shared the following critique of Tony Judt's proposal to convert Israel into a bi-national state with the readers of the IDI website.

In this article, written against the backdrop of the Holyland real estate scandal and just before Israel's Memorial Day for Fallen Soldiers, IDI's Yair Sheleg explores the connection between the security situation and hedonistic trends within Israeli society. Mr. Sheleg recommends a new practice that would remind Israeli politicians of the standards and values to which they are expected to adhere.

In this article, we discuss a new, comprehensive counter-terrorism memorandum bill recently published by the Israeli Ministry of Justice. This memorandum bill aims to consolidate the existing legislation, as well as to provide the authorities with new counter-terrorism tools (including a broad definition of an "act or terrorism").

In an op-ed in Yedioth Ahronoth, Prof. Yedidia Stern points to segments of Israel's population that denounce the national values of the State: supporters of “normalization,” ultra-Orthodox Jews, Arab Israelis, and a new group that has joined them: ultra-nationalists.

In this article, originally published in Haaretz on April 1, 2010, IDI Senior Researcher Prof. Avraham Ben-Bassat warns that Israel's policy of reducing taxes should be frozen since it may precipitate an economic crisis, and advocates giving preference to increasing public spending while preserving the economy's stability.

IDI Senior Fellow, Prof. Tamar Hermann, discusses the implications of the growing Tea Party movement in the United States on democracies around the world.

The following op-ed by IDI Vice President of Research Prof. Yedidia Z. Stern was originally published in Hebrew in the <em>Yedioth Ahronoth</em> daily newspaper on December 8, 2010, just before the Knesset was scheduled to vote on a bill that would recognize the validity of all conversions performed within the context of the service in the Israel Defense Forces—a vote that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu delayed by several days due to competing pressure within the political system. It urges the Israeli government to fend off political pressure, act morally, and assert that anyone who has converted to Judaism in the IDF is a Jew.

IDI Vice President Professor Mordechai Kremnitzer weighs in on the challenges faced by Israel's High Court of Justice, in an article that was published at the end of the third millennium as part of a collaboration between IDI and Walla!, a popular Israeli website.

IDI Senior Fellow Professor Yuval Shany explains the increasingly critical relationship between international law and the Israeli legal system, in an article that was published at the end of the third millennium as part of a collaboration between IDI and Walla!, a popular Israeli website.

IDI Research Fellow Mr. Yair Sheleg highlights growing individualism within both the religious and secular Jewish populations in Israel and takes note of growing rifts between the two communities, in an article that was published at the end of the third millennium as part of a collaboration between IDI and Walla!, a popular Israeli website.

IDI Former President and Founder Dr. Arye Carmon, one of Israel's foremost experts on political reform, sums up the Israeli political scene at the end of the first decade of the third millennium in an article that was published in collaboration with Walla!, a popular Israeli website.

IDI Senior Fellow Professor Tamar Hermann explores developments in the relationship between the Israeli public and the political establishment, in an article that was published at the end of the third millennium as part of a collaboration between IDI and Walla!, a popular Israeli website.

IDI Vice President Prof. Yedidia Stern dissects the tenuous road traveled by the Israeli court system, in an article that was published at the end of the third millennium as part of a collaboration between IDI and Walla!, a popular Israeli website.

Dr. Kalmen Neuman discusses the conflict faced by Orthodox soldiers who must choose between their religious commitment and the authority of the IDF when commanded to evacuate settlements.

In an op-ed in Yedioth Aharonoth, IDI Vice President of Research Prof. Yedidia Z. Stern calls on the leaders of each "tribe"—Russian, ultra-Orthodox, settler, and upper class— to take action to eradicate the negative behavior stereotypically associated with their camp.

In late 2009, a series of crimes were committed by individuals who hailed from different sectors of Israeli society—Russian, ultra-Orthodox, the settlers, and the Israeli upper class. These crimes were attributed to the actualization of traits stereotypically associated with the "tribe" of each perpetrator. In an op-ed in <em>Yedioth Aharonoth</em>, Prof. Yedidia Z. tern warns against public displays of tolerance that create a cultural "city of refuge" that condones such behavior, and calls on the leaders of each "tribe" to assume responsibility and take action to eradicate the negative behavior associated with their camp.

Researcher Michael Philippov exposes stereotypical views of Russian immigrants and suggests that criminality is a product of Israeli society's obtuseness and indifference. He encourages Israel to consider Aliyah absorption seriously and to focus on fundamental problems such as the lack of development of the peripheral regions and insufficient investment in education.

In an article in the Hebrew journal Eretz Acheret, IDI Vice President Yedidia Stern discusses the tension between two civilizations - western-liberal and traditional-Jewish - in Israel, and asserts that the agents of influence in Israeli society prefer to present these two values as mutually exclusive alternatives that are set up for a culture war. To read the full article published in Eretz Acheret, click here.

In an article by Dan Pine originally published in J.Weekly on November 5, 2009, IDI President Dr. Arye Carmon describes Israel's internal domestic developments as its greatest existential threats and stresses the urgent need for political reform.

As calls for an independent Israeli investigation of the events of Operation Cast Lead grow stronger, IDI's Dr. Dana Blander looks at the history of Israel's investigative committees.

This op-ed by IDI Prof. Yuval Shany argues that despite the Goldstone Report’s shortcomings, it strengthens the demand to investigate claims raised against the IDF through an extra-military entity. As he sees it, the main question to address is whether the army's internal investigation of "Operation Cast Lead" meets the requirements of international law.

In this article from The Jerusalem Post, Dan Izenberg considers the impact of the Goldstone report as "political and not legal." The article points to mistakes Israel had made after Operation Cast Lead, and suggests that the current laws of war should be changed, as they do not address the new reality involving civilians in warfare.